Foolproof way to read ancient DNA samples developed
Technology
Foolproof way to read ancient DNA samples developed
A team of scientists has shown how it is possible to directly analyse DNA from ancient modern humans who lived around 30,000 years ago. DNA that is left in the remains of long-dead plants, animals, or humans allows a direct look into the history of evolution. A new research by Svante Paabo from The Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has overcomes this hurdle and shows how it is possible to directly analyze DNA from a member of our own species who lived around 30,000 years ago. DNA is a hardy molecule and can persist, conditions permitting, for several tens of thousands of years. Such ancient DNA provides scientists with unique possibilities to directly glimpse into the genetic make-up of organisms that have long since vanished from the Earth.
